Ocean And Coast

Image: Beach in Santa Monica, CA by Johnny Chau / Unsplash

Nearly 75 percent of California’s population lives in coastal counties and along the State’s iconic 1,100 miles of mainland coastline and the San Francisco Bay’s additional 500-mile shoreline. The ocean and coast contributed $41.9 billion to the state’s GDP, provided $19.8 billion in wages and salaries, and supplied 515,465 jobs in 2014. These figures demonstrate how much the people and economy of California rely on the coastline and the ocean. The short- and long-term risks from climate change, such as sea level rise, coastal erosion and beach loss, and ocean acidification will continue to affect a vast number of people and industries. California is one of the world leaders in both addressing climate change and protecting our coastal and ocean habitats and resources. Because of the ever-growing value of California’s coastal areas and our dependence on the coast and ocean for recreation, food, and critical infrastructure such as ports, airports, and power plants, it is important to assess how climate change will impact our ocean and coasts and how to best anticipate, plan, and prepare for these changing ocean conditions.

Sea-Level Rise

Sea-level rise is an immediate and real threat to lives, livelihoods, transportation, economies, and the environment in California. The vast majority of California’s population lives in coastal counties and will directly experience the effects of sea-level rise on their homes, roads, public services, and infrastructure. More frequent and chronic flooding and erosion are inevitable and inland populations are not immune from sea-level rise. Many of the facilities and much of the infrastructure that support California’s ocean economy, as well as the State’s many miles of public beaches, lie within a few feet of the present high tide line and therefore are at risk from future sea-level rise and coastal storm events as a result of a changing climate.

Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidity has increased by 30 percent and is expected to double over pre-industrial levels by the end of this century, as the ocean absorbs one-third of the carbon dioxide generated by human activities. Extensive field studies conducted worldwide already show significant impacts on fisheries and marine ecosystems from ocean acidification, which will worsen in the future. Continued scientific research is critical to advance understanding of the causes, extent and impacts of ocean acidification. Of equal importance is the development and implementation of actions to help reduce the causes of ocean acidification and protect coastal communities and the marine ecosystems from the impacts of an acidifying ocean.

Warming Ocean Temperatures

In addition to contributing to sea level rise, increasing ocean temperatures also has implications for ocean processes and marine ecosystems, including coastal upwelling, ocean productivity, and species distributions and abundances. This can affect the health of fisheries, the occurrence of harmful algal blooms and disease in marine organisms, and the spread of marine invasive species, and thus impact the ocean resources upon which California’s population depend. Therefore, understanding changing ocean temperatures and their effects, along with the effects of other changing ocean conditions, is needed in order for California to plan, prepare, and manage for these potential impacts.

Integration with Assembly Bill 2516 (AB2516)

Passed in 2014, AB2516 (Gordon) called for the California Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the Ocean Protection Council (OPC), to conduct biannual surveys of sea-level rise planning information to catalog California’s efforts to prepare for rising seas. To improve accessibility and usefulness of these resources to support sea-level rise adaptation and resilience, OPC has partnered with OPR to host the AB2516 resources in the Adaptation Clearinghouse. Resources collected as part of this survey include studies, vulnerability assessments, and local coastal programs, among others. Resources gathered through future surveys, as required by AB182 (Berman), will also be included in the Clearinghouse.

Pacific Institute. 2009

FloodingSea level rise

Data, tools, and research

This report documents future coastal erosion hazards under different sea level rise scenarios. The report also provides details the methodology used to estimate potential erosion. Since the method was develop in a modular way updated estimates … could easily be developed with new data.

Hastings Environmental Law Journal. 2013

FloodingSea level rise

Data, tools, and research

This article demonstrates how Southern California local governments can harness their existing regulatory authority to support sea-level rise adaptation strategies. It shows that by harness four legal doctrines – 1) the California Coastal … Act, 2) the public trust doctrine, 3) the constitutional takings doctrine, and 4) the California Environmental Quality Act communities can be proactive and smart about decision-making while still mitigating potential legal liabilities.

Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation & Conservation District. 2014

Sea level rise

AssessmentData, tools, and research

This report presents the results of an initial study on the impacts of sea level rise on local groundwater to inform the Humboldt Bay Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning (HBSLRAP) project. The study uses U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) … mathematical model, SUTRA (Saturated-Unsaturated-Transport), in the Eureka–Arcata coastal plain. The report includes a literature review on sea level rise and groundwater simulation, the mathematical model, and the results and conclusions of the study.

United States Geological Survey. 2017

Sea level rise

Data, tools, and research

The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) is a dynamic modeling approach developed by the United States Geological Survey that allows more detailed predictions of coastal flooding due to both future sea level rise and storms integrated … with long-term coastal evolution. CoSMoS models are scaled down to local flood projections for use in community-level coastal planning and decision-making and are currently available for the north-central coast and southern California. Modeling is underway for the central coast, to be completed in summer 2018. All modeling results are available as GIS shapefiles, with accompanying metadata, at USGS ScienceBase-Catalog or through the Our Coast, Our Future (OCOF) flood mapper.

U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 2018

Ocean acidificationTemperature

Data, tools, and research

Developed to provide easy access to information about the latitude and depth of marine species involved in commercial and recreational fishing over time. The web tool delivers up to date information on changes in the latitude and depth … of marine species in each US marine region over the last 40 years using data collected annually by NOAA Fisheries and others. Users can track shifts in latitude and depth over time for individual species or groups of species in a region or nation-wide.

Point Blue Conservation Science. 2018

FloodingSea level rise

Data, tools, and research

This website is the home for the Our Coast, Our Future (OCOF) program of Point Blue Conservation Science. The program is a collaborative, user-driven project with the aim of providing coastal California resource managers and land use … planners locally relevant, online maps and tools to help understand, visualize, and anticipate vulnerabilities to sea level rise and storms. Through the website one can access data products form the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS), learn more about this model and read stories of people using this data.

San Mateo County. 2017

FloodingSea level rise

AssessmentData, tools, and research

This website is home to Sea Change San Mateo, which is an initiative led by San Mateo County. Its goal is to bring together and provide resources to local governments and agencies within the County on the issue of sea level rise. … The effort, which was spearheaded by U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Speier, California Assemblyman Rich Gordon and County Supervisor Dave Pine, began at a conference in December 2013. Following this initial meeting, the county has made significant progress and conducted detailed sea level rise vulnerability assessments. This website provides access to current planning efforts and key sea level rise resources such as reports, guidance and climate data and tools.

California Ocean Science Trust. 2015

FloodingSea level rise

Data, tools, and research

This report presents the findings from a science needs assessment conducted by the California Ocean Science Trust. The assessment included a literature review as well as interviews with relevant local stakeholders. The report found that … resources do not always meet the complex information needs to integrate sea-level rise into decision-making. Additionally, there is often a lack of training and technical support to onboard these resources at the local level. This research will help shape the production supplements and end products that are relevant and usable by the broader communities of practice.

California Department of Water Resources. 2016

FloodingSea level rise

Data, tools, and research

This guide helps floodplain managers in California’s coastal governments to better understand the science of sea level rise and include the associated impacts in future community hazard mitigation plans. The guide is an appendix to the … 2007 California Quick Guide, which was designed to address existing flood hazards.